Chris's journey throughout the first five chapters of Into the Wild display many life lessons, not just through Chris's actions and decisions, but also through the characters that he meets along the way. One life lesson that I gathered from my reading was through Chris's actions to drop everything in his life such as his education, family, home and savings to go out into the wild and live a life of adventure. This proved to me that people can always follow their dreams no matter what they constitute. Chris dropped some of the most important things in his life to do what he wanted. His family had high expectations for him, but he threw that away to do what he really wanted. The lesson I gathered from this is that no matter people's expectations or a person's background, they can still have the drive to break away from the mold of their life to follow their dreams. Another life lesson is seen from the point of view of Jan Burres, a woman that Chris meets in Arcata, California. Jan had a son about the same age as Chris whom she was estranged with. She wanted to take Chris in and take care of him to make up for what happened with her son because she missed and loved her son; she was ashamed of what happened between them. This is a life lesson that Chris would have been wise to learn from. This woman messed up her relationship with her son, just as Chris's relationship with his parents was flawed. Chris never stayed in contact with his parents and doesn't seem to really care about them much. It almost seems as though he got aggravated with them. The lesson that can be learned from Jan Burres is that no matter what happens in a relationship, parents will still love their children and will want to make things right. Even if a relationship is flawed, there is still love there. Chris should have realized this with Jan and done better to stay in contact with his family. There are many lessons that can be learned from Chris's adventure in the story so far, and there will be many more to come.
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